LESLIE: Jeremy in Washington, welcome to The Money Pit. What can we do for you?
JEREMY: Yes, I had a light fixture fall on one of those newer laminate floors.
TOM: OK.
JEREMY: And – in my kitchen. And it left – the nut on the light fixture left a big dent in that laminate flooring.
TOM: Did it break off the surface of the laminate or is it a physical sort of depression?
JEREMY: It’s more – it broke through the surface of the laminate and into the material that’s underneath the laminate.
LESLIE: Wow.
TOM: OK. And so, how big are we talking about?
JEREMY: Oh, we’re talking about 3/8 of an inch in diameter and maybe 3/16 to a quarter inch deep.
TOM: Not such a problem. Most major manufacturers – do you happen to know which manufacturer made the product that you have in the kitchen?
JEREMY: Not off the top of my head.
TOM: Well, most major manufacturers have touch-up kits available for this very situation. They usually include an acrylic putty that is available …
LESLIE: That’s used as a filler.
TOM: Yeah, as a filler that’s similar in colors to the colors that laminates are available in. If you can’t find one that’s sort of dead-on perfect, sometimes what you have to do is buy the one that’s a bit lighter and the one that’s a bit darker than that …
LESLIE: And blend them in between.
TOM: … and sort of blend them a little bit to kind of like smooth it all out. But a small area like that, where it’s 3/8 in diameter, you can build that up. And kind of like filling any hole, you don’t want to do it all in one application. You want to do it in several smaller applications, Jeremy; not just do it all in one fell swoop because it could shrink and crack and then it’s not going to look very good at all.
JEREMY: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome, Jeremy. Let us know how you make out. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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